If there are no other words that the committee remembers from that tour, it should be those.

The committee's recent formation represents a promising breeze in this direction. Formed to craft a master plan to the city-owned plaza, its very existence signals a frustration with the status quo — a plaza that contributes far too little to the telling of the Alamo story and, in fact, detracts from it.

Fortunately, District 1 Councilman Diego Bernal, whose efforts helped create the committee and who sits as one of its “tri-chairs,” seems to understand the plaza's shortcomings in this regard.

“We're at a moment — there's absolutely a will — to see something tangible happen at Alamo Plaza,” he told us. “Anything less than that is not going to satisfy me.”

This Editorial Board has, for the last couple of years, advocated a complete rethinking of the plaza, a site whose atmosphere has been allowed to deteriorate into carnival theatrics.

Everything should be considered, up to and including relocating — with compensation — those incompatible businesses contributing to that atmosphere. Also, complete state ownership of the chapel grounds
and the plaza.

The goal should be the most complete telling of the history and sacrifice that occurred there in 1836. And another should be an atmosphere that gives the site the reverence it is due.

Yes, as other guides and presenters at the committee meeting said, the Alamo's history did not start with 1836 and any accurate retelling of this story should be inclusive — Tejanos and American Indians figuring prominently.

The story is so much more than what it has become in many minds — Texans vs. Mexicans.

Speakers at this committee meeting got it right — the battle in 1836 was about Texans of all stripes rising up against a central government they didn't care to be ruled by.

But, though the Alamo's history didn't begin in 1836, the battle that occurred there is the perfect launching point — the hook, if you will — for telling what occurred before and after.

Simply, it is why people come. So many leave disappointed in the experience.

A restoration of the Alamo to its original footprint — as much as is practical — would best accomplish the important task of telling this story.

It's difficult to tell from those named to the committee whether there is a skewing one way or the other on direction for the plaza.

Bernal says there isn't.

Among its members is a former mayor, conservationists, history or archaeology experts and business owners.

At the minimum, we hope members share a vision that the plaza can be more than it is now. We urge the committee to tap into that vision. We suspect, not just San Antonio, but that all of Texas will be watching.

Among the speakers Wednesday was Larry Laine, chief clerk and deputy commissioner of the General Land Office, which has custody of the state-owned part of the site. He also sits on the committee.

He urged the committee to consider the state-owned and city-owned parts of the Alamo as one entity that should be under one authority.

We second that notion. The state should be given the job.

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Going by the history books, the Alamo is the state's most hallowed ground. Going by what has been allowed to develop around it, it isn't.